Cymerman and Edberg in free concert Wednesday at Gobin

Monday, June 11, 2012

Pianist Claude Cymerman and cellist Eric Edberg, both professors at the DePauw University School of Music, will perform music by Henri Duparc and Cesar Franck Wednesday at Greencastle's Gobin Memorial United Methodist Church.

The festival presents free concerts every Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. through Aug.15, including a pre-fireworks event on July 4 with a sing-along of American folk and patriotic songs.

Cymerman and Edberg have been performing together for nearly 24 years.

Eric Edberg (left) and Claude Cymerman will perform together Wednesday night during the weekly free concert series at Gobin Memorial United Methodist Church in Greencastle.

"This is a great example of the theme of the festival -- friends making music with friends, for friends -- old and new," said Edberg, who founded the concert series in 2005 and continues to organize it.

"I love the way these summer concerts have turned into community gatherings in which we enjoy and celebrate friendships," Edberg added. "Claude and I each love the sonata by Cesar Franck, which while originally composed for violin and piano is frequently performed with cello. This is the third or fourth time we've played it over the nearly quarter-century we've been musical and personal friends."

The concert also includes the world premiere of Cymerman and Edberg's arrangements for cello and piano of songs by Henri Duparc.

"Claude loves transcribing and arranging, and I've been wanting to play at songs on the cello for a long time. So we decided to finally do it. Claude suggested these wonderful songs by Duparc, who was Franck's student. It makes for a great 'French connection,' as Claude puts it," Edberg explained.

English translations of the poetry will be read aloud before each song.

A native of France, Cymerman graduated from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris with highest honors, studying with Pierre Sancan. After winning national and international competitions, including the grand prize at the Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud contest, he studied at Indiana University with Gyorgy Sebök.

The late French President Georges Pompidou, in a special ceremony, recognized him as "Outstanding Pianist." Cymerman performs extensively as a recitalist and chamber musician and has appeared as a soloist with the Radio France Orchestra, Orchestre des Pays de la Loire, Orchestre National d'Ile de France, Orchestre Symphonique de Limoges, the Luxembourg and San Francisco Chamber Orchestras, as well as the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.

He is regularly invited to perform at major festivals in France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Japan and Israel and is a frequent guest on French National Radio and the BBC.

Cellist Edberg has performed throughout the U.S., in France, Italy and China. An improvising musician, he performs regularly as a member of the DePauw Chamber Players, as well as with the International Street Cannibals, an avant-garde, multi-disciplinary New York City performance art collective.

At DePauw Edberg teaches cello, chamber music, and courses in entrepreneurship, concert presentation and improvisation.

The festival continues on Wednesday, June 20 with a performance by Duo Amabile, the husband-and-wife team of pianist Katya Kramer-Lapin and violinist Matvey Lapin.

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